United States Dominates World Relays With Seven Golds

U.S. quartets won seven of the ten races at the World Relays in the Bahamas on Saturday and Sunday, earning the Golden Baton for the overall team title, with 63 points to 46 for runner-up Jamaica and 34 for third-place Poland.

Americans also added one silver. They were no lower than second in any event in which they successfully got the baton across the track. In the other two events, the women’s and men’s 4 x 200-meter relays, they failed to finish, being disqualified for baton-passing disasters.

The United States set world records in the men’s and women’s distance medley relays. On Saturday, the IAAF reports, Treniere Moser (1200 meters), Sanya Richard-Ross (400), Ajee Wilson (800), and Shannon Rowbury (1600) clocked 10:36.50, more than six seconds better than the 10:42.57 a different American foursome ran in Boston this winter. The time was almost 12 seconds better than the previous world outdoor best of 10:48.38 set by an American team at the 1988 Penn Relays. Kenya was a distant second in 10:43.35.

The men’s distance medley relay was much closer. After legs by Kyle Merber, Brycen Spratling, and Brandon Johnson, Ben Blankenship had to run down Kenyan anchorman Timothy Cheruiyot, who began his 1600-meter leg with a stunningly fast 52-second first lap. Blankenship managed to reel in the Kenyan; his 3:51.24 split gave the Americans a 9:15.50 to 9:17.20 victory. Their time broke the world record set by a Kenyan team at the 2006 Penn Relays by 6/100ths of a second.

The women’s 4 x 800 on Sunday was a rout, with Chanelle Price, Maggie Vessey, Molly Beckwith-Ludlow, and Alysia Montano setting an American record of 8:00.62. Poland placed a distant second in 8:11.36.

In Saturday’s men’s 4 x 800, Duane Solomon, Erik Sowinski, Casimir Loxsom, and Robby Andrews were comfortable winners, in 7:04.84, over a Kenyan team that was disqualified for a baton exchange in front of the changeover zone. Second place went to Poland in 7:09.98.

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